IQNA

TEHRAN (IQNA) – United Nations human rights chief Michelle Bachelet said on Wednesday that an international investigation was needed to determine who was responsible for the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi in October.

Senior US senators said on Tuesday they were more certain than ever that Saudi Arabia’s crown prince, Mohammad bin Salman, was responsible for the killing of Khashoggi after receiving a CIA briefing on the matter.

Bachelet, asked at news conference in Geneva about the need for an international inquiry, replied: “I do believe it is really needed in terms of ensuring what really happened and who are the (people) responsible for that awful killing.”

Also on Wednesday, two Turkish officials said Istanbul’s chief prosecutor filed warrants for the arrest of a top aide to Saudi Arabia’s de facto ruler and the deputy head of foreign intelligence on suspicion of planning the killing of Khashoggi.

The prosecutor’s office has concluded there is “strong suspicion” that Saud al-Qahtani and General Ahmed al-Asiri, who were removed from their positions in October, were among the planners of the Oct. 2 killing at the Saudi consulate in Istanbul, the officials said, Reuters reported.

Khashoggi was killed after visiting the Saudi consulate in Istanbul on Oct.2. Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has said the order for Khashoggi’s killing came from the highest level of the Saudi government but probably not King Salman, putting the spotlight instead on Salman’s heir and de facto ruler Prince Mohammed.

Saudi Arabia has said the prince had no prior knowledge of the murder. After offering numerous contradictory explanations, Riyadh later said Khashoggi had been killed and his body dismembered when negotiations to persuade him to return to Saudi Arabia failed.